


Walls as Tall as the Ceiling

by BlackIrises



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: A little bit of fluff, Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, One Shot, Sad Louis, Short One Shot, because i can't deal with sad endings okay? okay, do i even have to tag larry? ive never done this before, larry - Freeform, larry stylinson - Freeform, only mentions of the other boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-25 23:20:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3828625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackIrises/pseuds/BlackIrises
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis has shut himself out from the world and Harry's finally had enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Walls as Tall as the Ceiling

Harry slammed his fist against the faded white wood of the bedroom door for what felt like the thousandth time in ten minutes. Or, at least that's what the clock tells him. He feels as though he's been standing there for an eternity or two, waiting for something that's never actually going to show face. But Louis has to show his face again, right? He has to leave that small, four-walled bedroom eventually, right?

Right. There's not even a bathroom in there, and knowing Louis, he'd never resort to using an old bottle as a toilet.

"Louis, C'mon!" Harry tried, once again banging on the door. If his hand was swelling and injured due to the repeated force, he didn't notice. His focuses were far too centered on the weeping boy behind the bedroom door to think about the physical pain he might've been feeling. "Hiding yourself away like this isn't going to do you any good!"

The twenty-one year old's shoulders deflated when the only responses he received were the occasional muted sobs coming from inside the bedroom, the same sobs that had been teasing his ears the whole time he'd been trying to get into their room. Sure, he figured he could just walk right in because there really wasn't any sort of lock on their door, but he respected his boyfriend too much to do such a thing. Besides, the last thing he needed was to give Louis another reason not to want to speak to him. 

With a final, defeated knock, Harry took a cautious step back from the door and slowly inhaled a large breath through his nose before sighing it out. How the hell did they get here? Everything seemed to be going so well - their fans were head over heels for the album, their shows were getting better and better with each passing venue, there hadn't been much fighting with management and almost none at all with the other boys, and they had been planning on coming out to the fans - so why had everything begun to fall apart? Why had Louis suddenly begun to shut himself off to his closest friends and even his boyfriend? Harry was beyond confused, and he just wanted things to be okay again. He just wanted _Louis_ to be okay again.

There wasn't even a specific event Harry could trace Louis' behavior back to, he could only vaguely recall the somewhat speedy progression of which Louis stopped acting like, well, _Louis_. He could, however, remember the night when the blue-eyed boy missed his solo during Girl Almighty before slinking off stage - much to the fans' dismay - and the rest of the boys bombarding him with hostile questions afterwards. Louis had snapped at them rather harshly, and left the venue without another word to anyone, not even his very confused boyfriend. Yet Harry hadn't thought much of Louis' actions at the time, and instead chose to mark the mishap as the product of exhaustion and moved on with his life. 

He didn't even mind the odd eating habits Louis had hastily inquired not soon after, also marking them as the product of exhaustion. Oh, how wrong he was.

Almost a month later and Harry is wondering why the hell he hadn't done something sooner. Maybe, he thought, maybe if he had spoken to Louis that night things never would've gotten so bad. Maybe he wouldn't be standing outside their bedroom door, begging for consented entrance and being granted nothing but disappointment and further desperation to be allowed into their room. 

In his pocket, his phone beeped. He could tell by the short buzz and single vibration that he'd gotten a text, probably from one of the boys. The message was displayed on the screen as he pulled the Iphone up. 

_Liam: Any luck yet?_

Harry shook his head, in no mood for wasting time texting Liam back, and shoved the phone back into his pocket after silencing it. He didn't have the patience to deal with anyone that wasn't Louis at the moment. 

"The boys are asking about you now." Harry said, resuming his place leaning against the door. This time around, he was leaned against the cool wood, relying on it to support him because if he was being completely honest, he felt like he couldn't support himself. He felt like every moment the Louis didn't open the door further drained his dying spirit. "They're all worried about you." 

Louis' sobs abruptly cut off, but Harry continued to speak. 

" _I'm_ worried about you." His voice cracked mid sentence. "But how can I not be? Lou, babe, you haven't a proper smile or laugh in weeks, you're hardly speaking to any of us anymore, and now you've gone and locked yourself in this damned room and I can't do anything to help you and-" 

That was it. Harry'd been trying to keep everything in, to stay calm and strong for Louis' sake, but he couldn't do it any longer. The emotions of distress and worry that had been pent up over the last couple of weeks spilled over the edge, and without the strength to stand, he fell to his knees. His vision blurred by the tears that glazed his green eyes, and his throat cracked with the dry sobs that clawed up his throat. 

"Please, Louis," Harry choked out, subconsciously scolding himself for losing his composure so quickly. "You need to talk to me... I love you, baby, you know that, and s-seeing you like this... It's killing me Lou... Please? For me?" 

If the volume of his crying hadn't escalated as fast as it had, Harry might've heard Louis' soft footsteps as the smaller boy approached the door. If he hadn't hid his face beneath the expanse of his large hands, Harry might've even noticed that Louis had finally opened the door. But Harry  _did_ notice the familiar hands that gently gripped his now shaking shoulders, and so with a surprised gasp, the curly-headed boy's head snapped backwards. 

"Lou?" He whispered, and Louis, whose cheeks were still tear-stained and eyes still swollen red, didn't even have the chance to think before he was being forcibly yanked into his boyfriend's arms. 

Their embrace only lasted a good ten seconds or so before Harry was pulling back, hundreds of questions swimming with the tears in his eyes. "Why?" He asked, voice thick and hoarse from the crying. 

Louis shook his head, eyes dropping from Harry's to stare at his hands, which lay shaking and limp in his lap. "I shouldn't... I think I'm just going to go back in the-"

"Oh, no you're not. You're staying right here, with me, until we talk this through." Harry's tone was firm, and he made it a point to quickly wipe his own tears away. "I have no clue why, but you've built your walls up so high that I can't even see you anymore. One second you were happy and full of sunshine, and now you're not and... And it's hurting everybody, especially yourself." Noticing Louis' growing discomfort with the topic, Harry told himself to take a deep breath previous to continuing. "I care about you, Lou. We all do. Seeing you like this is painful, and we want to help you because you are so damn important. I don't know what's going on with you, or what's happened to put you in a place like this, but I want you to know that you can tell me. I'm your boyfriend, but more than that, I'm your best friend, and I don't want you to think that you're alone with whatever you're going through because you're not. I'm here for you. The boys are here for you. Your family is here for you. And we all love you so freaking much it hurts." 

Harry's hand raised gradually until it was just brushing against the stubble of Louis' cheeks. Beneath his fingertips, he could feel the boy shaking, could feel the dampness of shed tears, and then without a second's thought, he tilted Louis' face towards his own just in time to catch the shorter boy's features crumble. Louis grabbed forward for Harry's sweater, muffling a sob with the soft grey fabric. Harry didn't hesitate to comfort his boyfriend, waiting for him to speak on his own time instead of attempting to coax another response that didn't involve instant tears. 

Louis finally pulled away moments later, eyes somehow finding themselves puffier than they had been when he first left their bedroom. "Thank you." He said under his breath, licking his lips. Tears were still gathering in his eyes, but his sobs had subsided. "It's just..."

"Take your time." 

Louis nodded appreciatively, clenching his eyes shut for a couple of seconds to ready himself for speaking. It wasn't that he was about to drop a life-changing bombshell on Harry, but he had nerves nonetheless. "Remember, back on the tour bus a couple of years ago, when I had said clinical depression runs in my family?" His voice was small, and he couldn't bring himself to look Harry in the eyes when he felt the younger boy's body tense.

"Fucking... How could I be so..." Harry shook his head, guilt slamming him like a semi on an abandoned intersection. He knew all about Louis' family history with clinical depression, he had listened intently the whole time and had even researched what it meant for hours upon hours after Louis had fallen asleep. He should've known. He should've known and he should've been there for his boyfriend. What kind of terrible person was he? The bags under his eyes, the lack of eating, the lack of enthusiasm during concerts and fan meets? It was all so obvious, and yet Harry had been completely oblivious. 

Seeming to read his mind, Louis grabbed one of Harry's hands. "Don't blame this on yourself. Please. It just... It just happens sometimes. I get really, really sad, and yeah, it's hard, but it's not like you can do anything about it." His voice gained an air of solidity. "But what said, about how you and everyone else are here for me? That helps, a lot." Louis swallowed audibly. "You couldn't be doing a better job. Please don't blame yourself. If anything, I should be the one feeling sorry."

Harry cocked an eyebrow. "That's not true, Lou. I could've done so much more-"

"That's not how depression works. But, uh... If you're going to be with me in the long run, I'm going to tell you now that it's going to get like this, that I'm going to get like this, and it's probably going to get hard. Really hard." The AC kicked in, the soft hum it omitted temporarily cutting Louis off. "So if you think that you won't be able to handle this again..." He trailed off, but Harry didn't need the finished sentence to understand what Louis was trying to say. 

"No. No way in hell I'm ever leaving you. Remember when I promised you I'd stay by your side through thick and thin?"

Louis nodded, eyes wide as Harry stared back at him with an intense emotion embedded within the emerald of his irises. 

"I promised you for a reason, Lou. We're gonna get through this. And if we have to get through this three hundred more times, so be it. I'm yours, Louis, and I don't plan on leaving you." Harry cracked a slight smile. "You're stuck with me, now. Sorry, babes." 

Louis' heart fluttered for the first time in almost two months as he smiled, also for the first time in almost two months. "Thank you..." He was nearly speechless, and so instead of putting his gratitude and love for the boy sitting in front of him into words, he leaned forwards and sent his emotions through a kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So that was the first story I've ever posted on here and I really hope it's not a major failure 0.0


End file.
